


Wear Your Fur

by dearmrsawyer



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Full Shift Werewolves, Louis finds a new family, M/M, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 15:27:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11877423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearmrsawyer/pseuds/dearmrsawyer
Summary: When Louis leaves home for the first time and moves to a new town, he knows he’s going to have to get used to being a wolf on his own. What he doesn’t expect is for there to be others. A whole pack of them.





	Wear Your Fur

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, thank you to the mods of Wolvesfest for putting on this fest! A month of wolf fics is literally my dream and i'm ecstatic that a) its happening and b) i can contribute. 
> 
> Secondly, thank you to Carlie my beta for making sure my fic is ready for public consumption, and Justine for giving me a piece to the puzzle my story really needed.

The thing Louis can’t get used to is how quiet it is.

There are no feet stampeding down stairs, no distant TVs or speaker systems blaring the Top 100. There are no garbled arguments from the other room nor any emphatic discipline in response. The only person making any noise at all in this place is Louis, and it’s hard to be loud when you’re alone.

Louis seals his sandwich bag and tosses it into the backpack after his water – which he forgot yesterday. It’s a process of trial and error, making sure he’s got everything he needs and nothing he doesn’t. His license: very important. The business card of his old local pizzeria: not quite so pressing.

Living alone isn’t all bad. He’s the only one who uses the bathroom in the morning and he doesn’t need to knock first. The milk is always where he left it and he doesn’t run out every second day. Of course, when he does run out there’s no one else around to replenish it; he’s responsible for that. Just as he’s responsible for everything else.

Living out of home is a big step, especially when its five hours away.

He’d already spoken to his mum this morning. She’s always up early with the babies. That’s something else he had to get used to, no ‘good mornings’ shared over a cuppa. But she’d wished him luck with a kiss blown down the line and Louis had promised to call and tell her all about his day tonight.

The kitchen light is dingy but Louis can’t be bothered to open the curtains when he’s only awake for thirty minutes before heading to work. His eyes still aren’t open all the way but he peers into his backpack, counting off all the papers he needs to remember. After a double and triple check, he deems himself ready for his first day.

***

Louis doesn’t know much about this town yet.

Since moving, he hasn’t had time to do much other than unpack, go to work, and try to familiarise himself with the local supermarket. All the aisles are in a different order and it takes him twice as long to do a shop. On his first night, he was the last one out before closing, earning a rather unimpressed expression from the cashier.

But tonight, Louis gives the frozen food aisle a miss. He’ll work out where the potato chips and the dishwashing detergent are tomorrow. Tonight, Louis just wants to go out.

There’s not a lot by way of things to do in this place, at least at face value. The roads are wide and the sidewalks usually clear. There’s one post office and one newsagency and the school he works at is the only one in the area. But he’d spotted a pub on the modest main road the first day he’d driven in, and it seems to keep busy whenever he passes by. It’s worth a look.

The pub is small, homey, with booths lining the walls and a TV playing on low over the bar, an equal match for the jukebox playing Jackson Browne at a modest level.

Louis finds himself an inconspicuous spot at the end of the bar and lets his eyes wander, sipping on his pint. The leather cushion of his stool is worn and cracked around the edges, and he can see stains further down the bar where people have ignored the coasters. Louis tilts to see if the light catches on anything where he’s sitting, but it seems clear, so he lets his elbow rest against the varnished wood.

It’s relatively full for a Thursday night, and everyone seems well acquainted, judging by the round of greetings each time someone walks in. Louis wonders if he’ll get that one day.

He knows it wouldn’t feel exactly like a night out, dropping into this pub on his own. It never is without a few mates at your side, but Louis is aware he needs to start from scratch here. It’s daunting, sitting at the bar on your own surrounded by people who already know each other, but he has to start somewhere.

The reality is he misses his friends from home. It’s strange, having to build a new social circle when you already have one. It feels like a waste to be unable to bring them with you. He’s received texts and calls from them all week, made a few himself too, but it’s a stark difference to the regular pop-ins you get used to when you all live within one city limit.

“Having a good night?”

Louis’ so caught up in his rare moment of introspection that he almost jumps clean off his stool. He spins around to see a man leaning against the only stool left at the very end of the bar.

“Sorry,” he laughs, stretching out a hand to Louis, who’s checking to see if he spilt any beer on himself. “Didn’t mean to startle you! Just thought I’d introduce myself, give you a friendly face.”

He’s got bright eyes made brighter by his hazelnut hair, and a small but solid build. His lips curve into an easy smile like it’s their perpetual state, and he’s got a pint in the hand not currently extended toward Louis.

Louis shakes it. “Right, well, hi.” The guy’s got a firm grip, like he means it. Louis feels that it goes on just a moment too long.

“I’m Niall. Smelled you hit town a few days ago but haven’t had a chance to come by till now.”

Louis rips his hand back so fast it bumps his chest.

“Excuse me?”

Niall’s still grinning like the last sentence out of his mouth wasn’t the most unsettling thing Louis’ ever heard.

“Caught your scent last week,” Niall says, compounding his disturbing impression as he takes a sip from his pint, and Louis feels the blood drain from his face. “Wasn’t familiar to any of the lads so we figured someone new had rolled into town. You just passing through or are you staying in the area?”

Louis looks around, terrified someone can hear. His heart kicks up to double speed and his breath comes fasts, fingers so tight on his glass that its sharp against his skin.

Does he have a scent? Does everyone know?

A hundred nightmares flash through his mind, fears of being pulled from his bed and thrown behind bars or shot in the woods. Midnight searches online about whether hunters live in the area and whether anyone would ever be able to tell what he is just by looking at him.

“Hey, you okay?” Niall’s grin falters, eyes raking over Louis like he’s reading the tension in his body. “Did I step over a line here?”

Louis’ eyes dart to the door. He wonders if he can make a run for it.

“Telling me you caught my scent?” Louis’ voice is high and thin, his throat tight. He feels like he’s looking death in the face. “Kinda weird thing to say to someone, mate.”

“Sorry. It’s just—we figured you would’ve picked up on us too. Thought it’d only be polite to introduce myself.”

“We?” Louis asks, even more panicked at the thought that Niall isn’t alone.

“Yeah, my pack.”

_Pack?_

Louis blinks at Niall, whose face is still so open. He breathes in through his nose and catches something… something he’s noticed since moving into town. Something he’s been unable to pinpoint. He doesn’t know if it’s some kind of environmental symptom, like a local factory or a rapid weed that’s tinted the town’s profile. But it’s stronger tonight, it’s inside with him. It’s coming, he realises, from Niall.

Niall’s eyes are still so keen, even as Louis’ jaw drops.

“Oh my god,” he says, and Niall tilts his head. “Oh my god, you’re a wolf.”

The dip in Niall’s brow deepens. “Um, yeah? I thought… I figured you could tell that, like I could tell about you.”

The breath rushes out of Louis’ lungs before he gulps more in, eyes wide.

“I—” he swallows. “I’ve never met another… wolf before.”

It’s the first time he’s ever admitted what he is to someone who isn’t his mum. Even she’d been the one to explain it to the girls. But outside his family, no one has ever known. He’s never had a conversation about it with anyone other than Google, and he’s certainly never had a stranger waltz up to him and discuss his deepest secret as if they were merely chatting about the weather.

Niall leans forward, eyes probing.

“Wait, seriously? Didn’t you have a pack in wherever you came from? Oh, wait, are you new?” His face pales, like this is all about to become bigger than he thought. As if anything could become bigger than talking to a werewolf. “Were you, like,” he lowers his voice, “just turned?”

Louis’ still trying to get his bearings over the fact that he’s looking at the only other wolf he’s ever known and there are a lot of questions being thrown his way.

“No,” he finally answers. “No, I’m—I was uh, turned when I was younger. I’m just, I didn’t have a pack or anything back home. It was just me.”

“Just you?”

“Yeah.”

“So I’m the first—”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.” Niall scratches at his forehead, blowing out a breath. “That’s… I mean that’s a lot.”

“You’re telling me.”

Louis’ had both feet on the ground from the moment Niall appeared, ready to carry him away should his life feel threatened. But now, knowing that he’s sitting with another wolf, even one that tracked him down by smell alone, his pulse starts to settle.

He looks Niall over, notes that they’re about the same size and age. Niall’s posture is completely relaxed, shoulders rolled back, elbow resting against the bar top. He’s set his pint down and his fingers are fidgety, rubbing over bitten-down nails. His eyes keep catching the TV like he wants to keep up to date on the score, but whenever he looks back at Louis his eyebrows bounce above a toothy smile. He’s hardly a threat.

He’s anything but a threat. He’s… kin.

Louis shifts on the stool, sets his feet up on the foot rest. The impulse to bolt is overridden by a sudden, eager need to stay.

_He’s never met another wolf before._

“I’m Louis,” he offers immediately. If he’s going to do this, he’s going all in.  

Niall beams. “Louis, nice to meet you.”

“How long have you been a wolf?”

“Few years, by now. Got turned when I was twenty, some pup who didn’t know what she was doing yet. Never did meet her, but no harm done.”

He seems so unbothered by it, like he hadn’t spent months lying in bed torn between tears of anger and tears of despair. Like he hadn’t thought about the wolf responsible for turning him, or wondered where they were now, or whether they knew what they’d done to him. That they deserved to be punished, that they deserved to know.

Louis looks for all that in Niall’s eyes, but it’s not there.

“Did you try to look for her?”

“Nah, think she was just passing through at the time. Figured I best get on with my own life, you know?”

“Right,” Louis scoffs.

Niall gives him a sad smile like he knows Louis’ thinking about the months of fear that followed being bitten. How he spent one night a month as a wolf and the rest scared about it. It’s different to the way his mum used to smile at him; her eyes had been so fierce and determined to make sure he got through whatever was ahead. It was different from how his sisters looked at him, like they weren’t sure what they could do, but they still somehow wanted him around. Niall’s look is one of understanding, like he’s known the thoughts in Louis’ head. Louis has never seen that in another person’s eyes before. His pulse quickens, tripping on hope.

There’s so much inside Niall that he wants to know.

“Your pack,” Louis prompts.

“My pack?”

“How many of you are there?”

“Just three of us. Used to be bigger but we’ve lost a couple over the years. Moved away and such.” He waves a hand in the air, glossing over stories Louis’ sure exist.

“Are there other packs too?”

Niall shakes his head. “Nah, just us around here. But depends where you go, some places have loads.”

“How does it work?” Louis asks. He’s got another question ready on the tail of every answer.

“Work?” Niall frowns.

“Yeah, like what does a pack… do?”

“I mean,” Niall muses. “Not much. Have a kickabout on Saturdays, usually.”

Louis’ mouth twists. “That’s it?”

“It’s not like a club or anything. It’s more like… I dunno. A family. We don’t _do_ anything, we just… belong,” he shrugs.

Louis imagines a group of wolves and what that would look like. Would it look any different than a group of normal people? Is their time together always coloured by what they are? What’s it like to have a group that not only knows what you are, but is the same?

That’s a level of comfort Louis’ never touched. Even surrounded by his family, who all knew and loved him just the same, he still felt different. Even when they pretended he wasn’t, he felt it.

Louis doesn’t realise he’s been silent for well over a minute until Niall speaks again.

“Do you want to meet them?”

Louis’ eyes snap up.

“What?”

“My pack?” He throws a thumb over his shoulder as if they’re right behind him. “You can come meet them? Us, I mean. Hang out and stuff.”

“Uh.”

Louis is exhilarated at having met another wolf—has so many more questions he wants to ask of Niall. But he isn’t sure he’s quite ready to meet a whole pack.

“No pressure or anything,” Niall flaps his hand about. “Just, you know, you’re welcome anytime.” He shrugs again, oh so easy, and maybe that’s how Louis needs to look at this. Easy. Unlike his life as a wolf so far, maybe this—knowing another wolf—can be just that.

“Maybe. Cheers.” He lifts his pint now that he’s confident he won’t drop it and clinks it against Niall’s.

Niall signals for the bartender to bring them another round each.

“So what brings you here?”

“New job at the local school. You go where the teaching jobs are,” Louis says.

“Teacher, huh? Shaping young minds.”

“Just trying to keep them from falling apart at this stage,” Louis grins. “It’s my first position so it’s still a bit much. Getting used to being more than a sleep-deprived student and part of the workforce.”

“Where were you before?”

Louis likes Niall, but he’s not sure he wants to give up all his information just yet.

“Just living at home.” He keeps it vague. “Mum needed help with the kids so I figured there wasn’t much point moving out, you know? Not ‘til I had to.”

“So your mum,” Niall hums. “She knows, yeah?”

Louis laughs. “Yeah, not sure you can pull one over on your mum. Not one that big, and not my mum.”

“And she was good?” Niall’s eyes are set on the TV, almost like he’s trying to give Louis room to say something difficult. It isn’t necessary.

“Yeah, she was amazing. After I was bitten… well, I didn’t know what had really happened until that next full moon a few weeks later. Mum had a fright when she came into my room to find a wolf tearing up the sheets.”

He remembers snippets of that night. His memory during the shift is never wholly preserved, and the pain makes it harder, but he remembers his mum that night. He remembers smelling her fear, and then her resolve. She told him he hadn’t been much of a threat in the end; he’d been too tired from the pain of shifting. So she’d given him water and taken him out to the shed to watch him for the rest of the night, away from the girls.

“She was always there for me. Helped me deal with it, made sure my little sisters were never afraid of me.”

Niall is nodding like he’s genuinely happy for Louis.

“Always helps when the parents are on board.”

“Were yours?” Louis asks. “I mean, since we’re airing history.”

“I didn’t get turned till after I was out of home so my ma and pa didn’t need to raise a little wolf boy. But once I told them they eventually came around.”

“They believed you?”

“Not without a demonstration,” Niall grins, and Louis laughs.

“That must’ve been fun.”

“Well I count myself lucky. There are some real horror stories out there, you and I sound like we had it alright.”

Louis remembers those early days. He remembers having to recover from the bite, and just when he was back on his feet he’d shifted for the first time. He remembers living in fear of himself, and of others knowing, and there’s very little about any of it that felt easy. But Niall is right; his mother had loved him just the same as ever, and he never hurt anyone he loved.

Not that he hadn’t come close.

Louis tells Niall about his job and Niall tells Louis he used to go to school where he works. Niall asks after his old teachers and Louis confesses he doesn’t know anyone well enough, but there are a few craggily faces that might match the names Niall rattles off. They share another drink and argue about the football. Louis follows teams and Niall follows players and Louis feels like that’s disloyal, but Niall likes to invest in the people. They both cheer when James Bay comes on the jukebox and feel scorned when its immediately followed up by The Wanted.

Niall leans a warm hand against Louis’ shoulder whenever he makes him laugh. Louis lets him.

By ten, Louis’ head feels a little fuzzy. The bar is slowly emptying but Niall’s got both elbows sprawled on the bar, making shapes out of toothpicks.

Louis adds an indecent addition to his stickman and Niall cackles before straightening, stretching.

“Well, I should be off. Work night and all.”

Louis feels a tug in his chest, that of all the people in this whole town he’s met only one, and he happens to be a wolf. He knows it’s not by chance, based on what Niall said, but it still feels adjacent to fate in Louis’ eyes. He feels like he’s made a friend and he doesn’t want to go.

Instead he says, “Yeah,” and checks for his wallet and phone.

“Good to meet you, Louis. Hey, give us your phone.”

Louis hands it over without question and Niall keys in his phone number.

“Thanks,” Louis says like Niall’s done him a favour.

“And my offer stands,” Niall says. “You ever want to come by, door’s always open.”

Louis doesn’t mention that he has no idea where said door is. He just nods his thanks and reluctantly makes his way out, sparing one last glance as Niall hangs back to bid the bartender goodnight.

***

Louis’ first full moon here comes three weeks after moving in.

He starts to feel it in the early afternoon. His joints are sore, and his bones feel fragile. He can see the moon faint against the bright sky, waiting for the sun to set so it can take its hold.

It’s always hard to focus the day of a shift. In the past, Louis has begged off working some of these afternoons.  But he’s still new to this job, only three weeks in and wants to make a good impression—doesn’t think he’s earned that luxury yet.

A classroom full of kids is a lot to deal with on the best of days. Today it’s, at best, a distraction from the pain, and at worst, almost impossible to keep a present mind. By the time the final bell rings, Louis’ jaw is aching and his fingers feel cramped, knotted over the steering wheel as he drives home.

Thankfully it’s a Friday, so he doesn’t need to worry about bouncing back in the morning. The day after is rarely any more productive than the day of, and his manner certainly doesn’t fare much better either.

He pulls into the driveway and leaves everything bar his phone in the car, staggering towards the house where he lets himself in with shaky fingers. It’s always a little better inside, out of direct sight of the moon. At least during the day. Once the sun sets there’s nothing to ease it.

Louis’ house is fairly basic. A one-bedroom one-bathroom with all the living space squashed into one room. It’s sparsely furnished with what he had in his old bedroom and a faded couch his aunt was planning to toss. It’s not a lot but it’s what he could afford for what he needs.

It’s detached, outside the centre of town, and backs onto a wooded area. The location is more a precaution for himself than anyone else. It’s not that he’s dangerous during a shift; as he’s gotten older and more accustomed to the pain of his transformation, he’s become more lucid as well. It’s different as a wolf. Thought doesn’t operate the same way. He doesn’t have words, just instincts, feelings, senses. It’s single-faceted, but he’s of present mind.

This just helps him feel safe. A unit would be cheaper, but he doesn’t like the idea of being trapped in a building full of other tenants, especially during his rougher turns. He doesn’t want to be completely cut off from his home either. He doesn’t want to have to shift in the middle of the woods, separate from any familiar place or refuge until morning when he’s stumbling back past the neighbours.

This way, he doesn’t have to cross anyone’s path or explain himself.

It’s separate, but it’s safe.

Louis grabs a banana, unable to stomach much else at the moment. He’ll have to eat properly before sunset, though. Otherwise he’ll be eating as a wolf, and that’s never pretty. He’s got some leftover kiev he’d unboxed and heated for dinner yesterday. He makes sure to eat it before dusk.

By the time the sky is darkening, Louis is sitting forward on the lounge, sweat collecting in the small of his back. His skeleton feels unstable, like his joints are fizzling away and he’ll collapse into a pile of bones at any moment.

Clouds glow against the horizon and the lamp in Louis’ small living room has become stronger than the lingering light outside. With shaky fingers, Louis pushes himself to his feet, shedding his hoodie. He follows with his trousers and socks and eventually underwear, leaving it all in a pile on the kitchen floor.

He leaves the lamp on, so there’s a spot of light to come back to. He props his backdoor open with a stone, hoping the neighbourhood is safe and he can afford to offer his wolf a way home if that’s what he wants.

Louis’ not entirely sure what his wolf will do in this new place, but he knows he’ll need somewhere familiar, someplace to orient himself around and attach his scent to. His home is the most familiar place to him so far—he hopes it’ll be enough.

It’s all new, shifting here. Back home he’d had patterns as a wolf. He’d had behavioural tendencies that his mum had learned to read. She knew that after a few hours he may want to come inside, following a familiar scent to a space he knows. She knew that if he was hungry he might not be back till dawn, that there were the usual spots he’d be likely to chase down rabbits. She’d gone and found him lying in the leaves more than once over the years.

As the pain worsens, Louis’ heart begins to pick up. It’s close now and he’s nervous; he wonders if he should’ve taken his mother up on her offer to come down for the night. He’d spoken to her earlier when she’d called to check in. He’d turned her down, unable to justify pulling her away from the kids for a whole day just to hold his hand through this.

But it’s daunting. It’s not quite like that first night he’d turned, but it’s close. It’s his first night doing it alone.

There’s a sharp crack of pain down Louis spine—it’s time.

He peeks out the door to make sure no one’s lurking and makes his way unsteadily down to the grass.

It’s properly dark outside now, no streetlights this far down and no floodlight attached to the back of his house, so he shouldn’t make a spectacle. There’s no fence around his yard, it’s boundless and easy for him to find the woods when it’s time.

Louis tips his head back to see the moon clear and full, surrounded by stars. He groans as pain ripples under his skin, dropping to his knees. He can hear the creak of his bones preparing to shift.

His hands find their way between blades of grass to the cool soil, and he bites his lip around a whimper at the first snap.

Louis knows his body is reshaping itself. His bones are shrinking and lengthening, rearranging themselves into something new. He knows because he feels all of it.

Buckling, he tries not to cry out and draw any attention. It already feels like a rough shift, and he thinks his nerves are making it worse. His wolf is anxious, unsure of coming out, but it must.

His fingers turn to claws and grip the ground as the change continues to roll through the rest of his body. He can feel tears in his eyes but he keeps them closed, focuses all his energy on staying quiet.

Eventually, he starts to come out the other side of it, feels his new bones settling into place and his skin stretching comfortably over them. He shakes off the last of the aches, finally, breathing easier as new sensations flood his body.

He inhales, almost tastes this new place for the first time, swallows air different to what he’s known. He lets his snout drop to the grass and trails his nose through the dirt to discover as much as he can.

This part is always freeing, the first few moments after the shift. He feels limber, more in touch with the world, and he trots out to where the grass gets thicker and wild like he wants. A light wind blows through his fur and he shakes it out. It brings with it a multitude of smells and Louis lifts his head to the sky; he wants to follow them all, trace every last one. He laps his way around the yard and out to the tree line, revelling in discovery.

His mind is clearer as a wolf. So much falls away, and it would be easy to let his awareness slip completely behind the instincts of the wolf. But he has to stay on guard, can’t entirely let go.  

He’s always had to keep that tether to the very human part of his mind. He’d never trusted the wolf, not when his sisters would so often stay with him or sneak outside during a shift. Only once did he let the wolf take the lead, one night when he was seventeen and Felicité had found him scratching at the back door. She’d let him in, sure he was after the leftover roast they’d had for dinner. She’d been so young, he’d been practically as tall as her.

It had only been Jay coming down in the middle of the night to find him trying to push through the laundry door where she’d barricaded herself that stopped him doing something truly terrible. It’s one of the clearest memories he has as a wolf, seeing his mum and coming back to himself enough to realise what he was doing. It’s the memory he’d most like to forget, but the one he knows he has to remember.

Louis feels that same unease tonight. And not just over hurting someone else, but someone hurting him. Wolves aren’t protected from those who feel so inclined to exterminate anything they deem a threat. He can’t afford to go wandering where he may be seen, no matter where his nose may wish to lead him.

When he slips into the woods he notices the trees are different from those back home. They’re spaced differently, smell different. Their leaves are softer underfoot, and Louis can smell that they’re home to more than just rabbits. But the kiev had been enough for him and he doesn’t feel the lick of hunger against his insides. Instead he sticks to exploring, lets his wolf flex even as he keeps it on a leash.

His nose leads him through the wood, turning up stones and twigs and mushrooms as birds titter up above. He can smell how unsettled they are, on edge with this new creature in their midst. He growls low in his throat and hears a few flap away.

The trees go deeper than he’s used to and he roams for hours, crossing new paths and doubling back when he traces new smells back to spots he’s already been. The moon rises higher, running through Louis’ veins, so he himself runs too.

He eventually tires, finding every new turn less intriguing when thoughts of rest seem much more inviting. He sniffs at the air, looking for home. He recognises it blow in on the soft breeze that’s managed to filter through the trees, and begins to stalk back in that direction. He lets his head hang low, nose still working over the ground as a last, slow hurrah.

The winds change subtly, brushing at his side, and Louis’ head swings up, ears suddenly alert.

Louis knows he has a place to come back to, a self-imposed instruction that tells him he exactly where to go—he has only to follow his nose. But something else sweeps up on the air, new and different and yet somewhat familiar. It strokes at his wolf, beckons him forward.

Louis grasps at his tether, urges himself not to be swayed by the impulse of his wolf. But he’s never felt anything like this before, and it rises above his voice and urges him to surrender.

He looks ahead to where he knows his house sits, but there’s no pull. The scent has gone but even without it lingers a sense, something that his wolf recognises, even if he doesn’t. He whines, paws lightly at the ground, trying to decide.

He knows, _he knows_ , what he’s supposed to do. He wants to go _home_.

But the wolf refuses to go to his house.

He turns back, puts the house behind him and moves. He passes trees he’d seen minutes ago, places he’d scratched and snuffled at hours ago. He goes further than he’s been all night, following a sense that beats in his heart. His nose, ears, and eyes travel blindly, led by something else.

Louis isn’t sure where he is. He can’t see the town, too deep in the woods, and he doesn’t know how far he goes. Eventually the trees start to thin as he feels the moon stronger up above, breaking through the thinning canopy. He slows at the edge of the wood, looking out at a place he’s never seen.

There’s land, a great stretch of it that leads towards a wooden fence with large gaps between the horizontal slats. It has a wide opening that faces the trees, where Louis stands.

Behind the fence is a house with lights visible through the windows. There’s a couple of structures to the side, both smaller than the house, but they’re completely dark. Louis’ ears twitch when he hears noise up ahead, and sees shadows dancing against the windows.

Louis’ sense, his human sense, pleads for him to retreat back into the woods. But his wolf sense only feels a greater pull, drawing him out of the trees. He walks forward slowly, paws silent on the grass and head low.

The grass tapers out into dirt as he reaches the fence. The sounds inside the house are louder now, and the fears he’s held onto for so long are buried beneath the feeling that he’s exactly where he should be. The smell he picked up deep in the woods is here and it’s strong, familiar in a way his nose doesn’t understand.

Louis jumps onto the deck, eyes trained on the window. A silhouette appears behind the glass, a man moving back and forward. Louis sits patiently, waiting until a pair of eyes land on him.

The man stills, and Louis cocks his head.

He disappears from the window, and reappears at the glass doors leading onto the deck.

When the door slides open, Louis’ senses are overwhelmed. He can smell it, stronger than any voice telling him to hide. It’s all but buried under the fact that he knows he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.

The man from the window stares at him, dark hair curling around his ears and one hand pinching full lips. There’s another voice inside. Louis wiggles in place, sniffing loudly.

“Uh, guys?” the man says, eyes held steadfast on Louis.

The other voice inside stops, replaced by footsteps before two more men appear beside the first. One of them has hair cropped shorter on the sides, thick eyebrows and dark eyes. The other is Niall.

“Anyone expecting company?” the first man asks.

The three of them exchange questioning looks. Louis wiggles again, his tail thumping lightly against the deck.

“Can’t say I was,” the second man says.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Niall adds.

They stare at Louis, who isn’t sure what he needs, just that he needs to be here.

“You two haven’t been negligent, have you?” the second man says warily.

“Don’t be stupid, Liam,” Niall scoffs, somewhat offended.

“When would we even have time, we’re always together,” the first man says.

“Hang on a tic,” Niall murmurs, eyes narrowing. He takes a step forward, bending over, and Louis whines.

“Louis?”

Louis stands and sits back down in quick succession, inching a closer.

“Who?” Liam’s face scrunches up.

Niall kneels in front of Louis, who can barely keep still, nails scratching against the deck.

“Harry, can you get a bowl of water?” Niall says, eyes trained on Louis.

“I still don’t know who this is,” Liam grunts as Harry disappears.

“Lad I met at the pub yesterday—that new wolf in town? Told you I met him, had a pint and a good chat.”

Niall stretches out a hand, letting Louis sniff at his fingertips. He huffs in recognition.

“Thought you said he didn’t want to meet us,” Liam says, joining Niall on the deck.

“Guess his wolf thought differently,” Niall grins.

Liam frowns and Louis reflexively lowers his head. There’s something different about him. Louis feels obligated to takes cues from his body language even though he doesn’t understand why.

Harry reappears with a ceramic bowl of water, which he sets down in front of Louis.

“Not easily spooked, is he?” Harry muses.

“Thought you said he never met another wolf before,” Liam directs at Niall.

“Ay, that’s what he said,” Niall confirms.

“Must just be a people person.”

“A wolves wolf.”

“ _Harry_.”

Louis sniffs at the water.

“Go on,” Niall encourages.

Some part of Louis feels like he should wait on Liam’s okay but he tentatively licks anyway. He hadn’t found a stream in the woods like there was at home and he’s definitely feeling parched.

He almost empties the bowl completely, licking at his lips when he’s done. Niall’s sitting on one leg, the other propped up with his elbow resting on his knee. Harry and Liam are still behind him.

“So… what’s he doing here?” Liam says. The three of them look between each other and back at Louis.

Niall reaches forward but Louis jumps back, yipping. The three men freeze, Niall’s eyes wide. Louis drops down onto his front paws with his tail in the air and Niall laughs.

“Think he just wants a little fun, lads!”

Louis barks and Niall gets to his feet, smiling wide. He pulls his shirt over his head.

“Think I’ll keep him company, help him work off that energy.”

Louis leaps down onto the ground, looking back as Liam claps Niall’s shoulder and lowers himself into one of the deck chairs.

Niall slips out of his pants, jumps from the deck and shifts right in front of Louis’ eyes. It’s fast, fluid, and not a moment later a sandy brown wolf lands in front of Louis, watching him with familiar bright eyes.

Louis instantly takes off, barking as he runs a wide loop inside the fenced area. He’s moving so fast he kicks up dirt at Niall, who’s close on his heels. Louis ducks under the fence and gets halfway to the trees when he feels Niall nip at his tail.

He springs around, gnashing playfully at Niall’s ears. They both stand facing each other, heads low to the ground, mouths open. Niall swipes a clawless paw at Louis, who lightly snaps back.

Louis ducks around Niall to start running back to the house, but stops short when he sees two more wolves jumping down off the deck. One of them has dark brown hair, lithe limbs and a bushy tail—Harry. Liam is taller, with lighter hair and powerful shoulders.

When Louis barks eagerly, Harry instantly bounds forward. He nudges at Louis as he runs past before knocking Niall onto his back. They wrestle around on the grass, growling playfully.

Liam stands tall, still near the house, and Louis barks once, twice, three times before Liam barks back, deep and full-chested. Louis skips forward, testing his boundaries as he nips at Liam’s feet and bounces back. Liam snorts and shakes out his fur, baring his teeth before dashing out towards the clearing.

He leads Louis on a chase, occasionally slowing down so that Louis can snap at his fur. Each time he quickly turns, rearing up to press his paw against Louis’ jaw. Once Louis lowers his head to the ground Liam backs off, barking to summon him in another chase.

After a few rounds Harry trots up to Liam, rolling over with his teeth bared. Liam bats at him gently before leaning down so Harry can nuzzle into his neck.

Niall sits by Louis and presses against him. His breath is cold on Louis’ nose, but Louis sniffs back, a peace offering.

He lets his tongue loll out, shaking out loose bits of grass he picked up after all their running around.

Harry rolls back onto his front, panting happily, and Liam nudges at him before padding back towards the house. Harry hurries after him, and Niall looks at Louis, his eyes asking for him to follow as well.

His wolf is more than happy to oblige.

***

Louis wakes feeling disoriented. He always does after a shift, and he rolls over to bury his face into the pillow, but there isn’t one. Running his hand along the sheet, he realises it’s not in fact a sheet but a synthetic cushioned surface.

He blinks awake slowly, out of sorts, and is blinded by what can only be the sun itself. It’s harsh on the eyes, waking up outdoors, and he has the experience to back it up. His joints are still sore from shifting back and he stretches them out as he looks around.

He’s on an outdoor sofa, a throw rug covering his very naked body and the sun shining freely above.

He freezes, about 99% sure his new home doesn’t have an outdoor sofa, or a deck, or fencing around this significantly larger yard. He pulls the blanket to his chest, heart picking up a frightful rhythm at the thought that he’s found himself on some stranger’s deck. That he’d gone anywhere near a house that wasn’t his own.

Just as he contemplates making a run for it into the trees, he hears a door slide open and turns to see Niall step out, a plate in each hand. They smell delicious, and Louis’ stomach argues valiantly for him to stay put.

He relaxes marginally, relieved at least that it isn’t a stranger.

“Morning!” Niall chimes, collected like he’d been awake for hours.

Louis makes sure he’s all covered up, shielding his eyes from the sun so as not to be so squinty.

 “Uh, morning,” he answers. “I—”

“Memory can be a little fuzzy after a shift, I know,” Niall nods, sitting in a deck chair. He extends one of the plates towards Louis. “Breakfast?”

The plate is packed with sausages and eggs and tomatoes and hash and two slices of toast. Louis tries to accept it with dignity.

“Cheers.”

Niall’s toast has a perfect bite missing already.

Louis pokes at his eggs, forking a bit into his mouth. He tries not to groan out loud.

“Harry’s always on duty after a big night,” Niall explains through a mouthful. “No one puts together a full English like him.”

“My compliments,” Louis says in the single breath he’s willing to spare.

“Hear that, Harry!” Niall bellows, making Louis jump.

“My pleasure!” Harry shouts back, and Louis is still a little fuzzy on who Harry is, but he does have fleeting pictures of last night—of faces, and then of wolves.

As his stomach settles and his priorities shift beyond food, he tries to piece together more of his night. He wants to ask what Niall remembers, or what comes next, but Niall is happily tucking into his breakfast so Louis keeps quiet and gratefully eats as well.

It’s only when they’re down to their last few bites that Louis feels that press to speak again. He clears his throat, prepares his words, but Niall gets there first.

“Did you know where you were going last night?”

Louis swallows. “Didn’t know much last night, mate, least of all where I was going.”

“Seemed odd, is all, you ending up here after you said you weren’t exactly up for it. You know, meeting the pack.” Niall’s tone doesn’t suggest offense, merely curiosity.

“I think the wolf just… took over,” Louis says slowly, dregs of memory coming back. It’s mostly feelings, an urge to follow some sense he didn’t recognise but couldn’t help yielding to.

“It’ll do that,” Niall chuckles, like it’s a minor inconvenience and not potentially life threatening to Louis or anyone he crosses.

“I try not to let it.”

“Might just need to exercise it. Let it breathe a little more. How often do you shift? Just on the full moon?” Niall sets his plate aside and rests an ankle against his other knee.

It feels like Louis’ words sit in his throat, hesitant to come out. He’s not used to this, speaking about his wolf out in the open. Not to mention he’s still completely naked.

Louis’ eyes narrow. “Uh, don’t have much choice with that.”

“What do you mean?” Niall quirks an eyebrow. “Have you never shifted any other time?”

“Why would I want to do that?” Louis counters, a little sharp. “And how would that even work, anyway. You need the full moon, wouldn’t think I’d need to tell _you_ that.”

Niall laughs, once, scratching at his scalp.

“I keep forgetting you’ve never met another wolf before. You’ve probably never learned any of this, have you?”

“Any of what?” Louis’ starting to feel put off.

“How to be a wolf.”

“Not much to learn. Sorta happens whether you want it to or not.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

Louis’s face twists. “What’re you on about?”

“Your wolf isn’t supposed to rule you,” says another voice, and Louis turns to see someone—Liam, he remembers—standing at the door. His face is easy, open, and he steps onto the deck.

“Not sure I’m following,” Louis shakes his head.

“Your wolf isn’t supposed to command you,” he explains, standing at Niall’s side. “It’s part of you.”

Niall is as relaxed as ever but Louis just wishes they would stop talking in affirmations and get to the point.

“Ok so what does that mean? I can choose when I want to shift?”

“And when not to,” Niall agrees. “You don’t have to give into the full moon if you don’t want to. And you can shift at any other time of the month.”

“No, forget that,” Louis waves Niall’s words away like smoke from a match. “I don’t need to feel my bones snap themselves into a new shape any more than I already do, thankyou very much. What’s this about not having to turn on a full moon? Let’s discuss that.”

Louis leans forward eagerly, seriously, absently remembering to hold the blanket in place.

“Shifting doesn’t have to hurt,” Liam says, like he’s trying to convince Louis tumbling down a cliff side is an amusing pastime. “Once you learn to control it, it becomes much easier and smoother.”

“We can teach you.” Niall gives half a smile, like he’s half hopeful. “We can teach you all of it, how to understand your wolf.”

Louis can tell they’re not trying to convince him of anything, that they’re speaking carefully so as not to scare him off. His hands are folded in his lap, and he can feel his own pulse racing where one hand loops around the other wrist.

This all sounds too good to be true. It’s everything he's wanted but known to be impossible. It’s everything he dreamed of until he got too old and just dreamed it would all go away.

He schools his face into a neutral expression, erring on the side of sceptical. He doesn’t want to give them the power of knowing they have something he wants. Niall’s eyes are fixed on him like he has no desire to look away, is happy to wait however long Louis needs him to.

“And I suppose there’s a price, right?” he says, sharpening his words to hide his hope. “I have to join the pack? Enter into a blood bond, owe you a life debt you’ll collect at your leisure?”

“Jesus, we’re not medieval,” Niall laughs.

“There’s no price or fine print, Louis,” Liam says. He leans back against the railing, arms crossed. It looks like an intimidation tactic but something inside Louis tells him it’s not.

“A pack isn’t a mob, or a contract. It’s just a family, and you don’t have to join us if you don’t want to. We’d be happy to have you, but we aren’t going to force you into anything. Joining a pack is your choice and yours alone.”

“We just want to help,” Niall clarifies.

Louis stays silent in thought, a rare turn of events for those who know him. But these people don’t know him. And no matter what his wolf had felt last night, he doesn’t know them either.

“So you’d just… teach me how to shift whenever I want, even if I’m not part of your pack?”

“Yeah,” Niall nods before Liam’s mouth is halfway open.

“And there’s no catch?” he says, narrowing his eyes. “Not gonna show up at my door in a month looking to collect.”

“You can trust us, Louis,” Niall rolls his eyes above a grin. “Did all that bonding over a pint count for nothing?”

“Liam here didn’t partake in any pints,” Louis argues, because far be it from him to underestimate the bonding powers of pub night.

“Well I wasn’t invited, was I?” Liam asks rather pointedly of Niall.

“Liam’s a good lad,” Niall assures Louis, patting at Liam’s stomach. “He’s our alpha and he’s as honourable as they come.”

Louis’ been nervy over the idea of being amongst a group of wolves since Niall mentioned his pack the night they met. He tries not to show that his heart rate jumps at discovering one of them is an alpha.

So much about the few memories of last night that have come back now make sense.  The way Harry and Niall had moved around Liam, especially as wolves, and their tendency to submit in play—Liam’s tendency to expect it from Louis.

Niall’s right, though. In the three short weeks he’s lived here, Louis has already found himself in Niall’s company in particularly vulnerable circumstances multiple times. First approached quite unawares, then as a lone wolf amongst a pack, and now, naked and apparently the only one unable to shift into a wolf at will. If they’d wanted to threaten him in any way, he’s already handed them the opportunity three times over.

Instead they’ve fed him breakfast, kept him company, and introduced themselves through Niall of their own volition. The thought of having to live under the same wing of fear he’s suffered for so many years—and now without his family to keep him sane—weighs heavily. It’s not a life Louis wants to live.

He grips at his own hands, shifts so he sits straighter.

“Well, I suppose I’ve no choice but to take your word for it,” he says, although his tone isn’t quite suspicion-free.

“So that’s a yes?” Niall immediately brightens. “You’ll let us help?”

“Give me all your knowledge,” Louis appraises, throwing his arms wide before quickly clutching at the blanket in his lap. “But first, is there any chance one of you lads could spare some pants?”

***

Harry generously lends Louis a pair of sweats that would swallow his feet if not for the cuffs. He’s got a tee to match, emblazoned with a full moon that Harry deems “on theme” and has Niall laughing for three straight minutes.

Louis stands at the edge of the deck with a much clearer view of Liam’s yard. It’s not so much a yard as it is _land_ , practically a farm with a couple of goats and cattle penned off and a chicken house beyond that. It doesn’t seem like the wisest ideas for a bunch of wolves to own livestock, but Louis saves that question for another day.

“How did I not smell that last night,” Louis muses. No matter how much he could’ve eaten before a shift, that sort of smorgasbord would’ve been impossible to resist. He’d killed two of the neighbour’s chickens one night, not long before graduating high school, and stirred up the rage of the town against wild foxes for weeks.

His mum had considered moving them before a surrogate fox was killed, deemed the end of the rabid beast. Louis had felt guilty for months.

“Your wolf was probably a little distracted by seeing other wolves for the first time,” Liam explains, coming up behind him. “Not much that can distract from the pull of a pack.”

“I’m not your pack,” Louis says like a reflex.

“We’re still wolves,” Niall says kindly, looking up from the ground. He’s two feet below Louis, eyes caught on the sun. “Your wolf was drawn to the nearest thing it could recognise.”

Louis thinks about how growing up he was always drawn back home. It hadn’t worked here, having a home to come back to. Maybe, he thinks, it wasn’t about him at all, but about his family.

He averts his eyes from Niall’s.

“So I… sensed you? Like you did at the pub.”

“I did long before the pub, but yeah,” Niall nods. Louis’s eyes flick up and notice just a little more colour in Niall’s cheeks.

“I thought I couldn’t.”

“Your senses are stronger as a wolf.” Liam jumps down off the deck as well, and Niall instinctively shifts to make room for him. “You can pick up on all sorts of things in that form. This form too, once you learn.”

“And you can teach me that?”

“First you need to control your wolf,” Liam says firmly. He pushes his sleeves up. “Are you sure you want to do this now?”

“Uh, not really,” Louis confesses. He’d asked if they could do it straight after breakfast, worried he’d talk himself right back out of accepting their help if he left it even a minute more. That hesitancy is creeping in as he eyes Liam’s arms.

“You wanna go home first?” Harry asks, appearing at his side. “You had a big night.”

“No, no,” Louis says, finding his own ground. “I wanna know how to control when I shift. Just… don’t want to get on the wrong side of you.” He looks back at Liam, who smirks.

“Liam doesn’t have a wrong side,” Harry says, patting Louis’ shoulder. “He’s all soft under there.”

“I mean, I don’t appreciate your dedication to damaging my rep,” Liam cocks an eyebrow at Harry. He turns back to Louis. “But I’m not gonna hurt you. It will hurt though.”

Louis swallows. “How much?”

“You’re gonna have to shift. A lot,” Niall grimaces. Louis sees the shadow of experience in his eyes. He balls his fists.

“How many times?”

“It’s always different,” Liam’s says. “It just depends on you.”

“Are you _sure_ you wanna do this?” Niall asks. He steps right to the edge of the deck, looking up at Louis with eyes full of concern.

It occurs to Louis in that moment that he quite literally has no idea where he is.

“Yeah,” he nods, squeezing his eyes shut just for a second. “Let’s do this.”

“Okay,” Liam nods, and he’s suddenly all business. He heads towards the open grass outside the fence. “Let’s do this out here. It’s gonna feel better for you to feel the earth beneath you.”

Louis isn’t wearing any shoes, but then it doesn’t matter, does it. He hops off the deck with Harry and follows after Liam with Niall.

They stop halfway to the trees, a good stretch of grass all around them.

Louis fidgets with the hem of his shirt. Liam is a few feet away, facing him, while Harry and Niall come around to flank him just out of his eye line. He doesn’t know if it’s a ritual, or if everything these guys do just seems to happen in formation. He tries to stay focused, to look ahead.

“So how do we do this?”

“I’m going to make you turn, when you’re ready,” Liam says.

“You are?” Louis asks, surprised, and Liam nods.

“Alphas can force someone to shift.”

“That hardly seems necessary.”

Liam’s eyes twinkle. “It’s handy when you need to teach one of your wolves how to control himself.”

“I’m not one of your wolves.”

“You’ve made that clear.”

“Good.” Louis raises his chin.

“Are you ready?”

Louis takes a deep breath. His body is tired, craving rest after the full moon. His bones beg for reprieve, but Louis wants to be on the other side of this. To learn to shift so he never has to do it again. It might be wiser to rest and wait, but he’s never really been wise.

A day of agony for a lifetime of relief.

He nods, once. “Ready.”

Liam nods back. “Okay.”

Louis’ body tenses with anticipation.

Liam’s eyes are steady, unblinking, and for a second it’s seems like nothing is happening. Louis glances from side to side but when he looks back he can see a glow in Liam’s eyes.

Louis furrows his brow. He’s just about to ask if he can do that too when his entire body goes stiff.

A shiver runs down his spine, followed up by a familiar, aching ripple in his joints.

It’s just like the hours leading up to a shift, but in fast forward. Electricity runs through his nerves as his muscles contract and loosen in waves. It feels different from a great cosmic force pulling him towards an inevitable transformation. It’s closer this time, almost intimate, like he’s being turned from the inside.

He shudders against every groan in his bones. It’s like his body knows it’s not supposed to turn yet, tries desperately to cling to human form.

He’s breathing harder now, trying not to show how his hands shake even as the rest of him shakes as well. Liam’s eyes are steadfast, light curling through his irises.

“Let it happen, Louis,” Liam says, and Louis’ knees buckle.

He wants to spit something back but the second he opens his mouth he feels the first crunch and cries out.

And it’s suddenly so slow, the pendulum swinging back to shift the passage of time and Louis feels every single second. The moon’s pull is stronger than Liam’s push—and he does, he _pushes_.

He pushes the shift through every part of Louis’ body, and Louis lets his elbows sink into the grass, gasping.

“Oh, that was one of my favourite shirts,” he hears Harry say softly.

“You let a stranger borrow one of your favourite shirts?” Niall counters. His voice is much clearer, and when Louis manages to open his eyes, he sees him kneeling in front of him. His eyes are a whole sky as the edges of Louis’ vision fade to black.

“You’re doing good, Lou, you’re almost there,” he encourages.

Louis breathes heavily through his nose, feels his left leg start to twist.

“It’s just a small tumble from here, just a roll down the hill. Just let yourself tip over,” Niall says, and he’s on all fours now trying to meet Louis’ eyes. “You’re almost all the way there, just do this last bit yourself.”

Niall chases his wandering eyes when he looks for Liam, bends further when Louis whimpers in pain.

“Come on, I’ll turn too, yeah? Be waiting for you on the other side.” He grins, and then he melts away so seamlessly and there’s a wolf falling out of Niall’s clothes barely a second later. It comes and faces Louis, lying flat with its head on its paws.

It looks so smooth… so easy. Maybe Louis could just…

And he can feel he’s so far through it, almost to the other side, and he doesn’t need another push if he can just tip himself over the finish line, just like Niall said.

And suddenly it _is_ a tumble, like the brittleness of his bones is replaced by the pull of gravity as Louis slips out of his skin and into fur.

He drops to his stomach, whining, and Niall instantly bounces to his feet, barking triumphantly.

“There you go,” Liam cheers, wide smile pressing crinkles into his eyes. Harry is clapping off to the side, sharp slaps against Louis’ keen wolf ears.

Niall dips to nudge his nose against Louis’, who huffs back, quite content not to move for the next hour. Niall does a quick lap of Louis, who throws one paw out as a response.

“Okay, Louis, now I need you to shift back,” Liam says, a little sterner. Louis just flops onto his side, growling low in his throat. Harry snickers.

“Come on,” Liam says, and then his eyes flash and Louis feels a shiver in his bones, just for a second. He snarls irritably, pushing himself to his feet. Niall takes a step back and Louis watches Liam, anticipates what comes next. 

But Liam says, “You’ve got to do this part yourself.”

Louis’ only been conscious for the shift back once, very early on when he’d gotten lost for the first time in the woods behind his house. The fear had kept him running until dawn, when he’d tumbled back into being a boy without even realising. It had been seamless, painless, the exact opposite of shifting into a wolf. He’d always thought it was because that was the direction his body wanted to go. It occurs to Louis now that perhaps that’s what he’s needed when becoming a wolf all along. To want it.

He’d fallen asleep every other night for the shift back since then, exhausted or full or safe at home.

Liam’s still looking at him and Niall moves to stand directly in front of him, mirroring him. Louis isn’t sure what he’s doing, but then Niall’s fur starts to disappear and his limbs fold up beneath him, pink and pale.

Louis takes in Niall’s dirty knees and palms and catches his quick smile, and then it’s like he tips over the edge as well. His body buckles and slips and then he’s kneeling, naked, on the grass.

Air rushes out of his lungs and leaves him puffing. His body is sore the way it used to be after running a marathon back at school, even though he’s hardly moved.

“There you go!” Niall crows, sitting back on his heels. Louis’ face is already flushed from exertion, which is a relief because he suspects the heat in his cheeks would be palpable with the way Niall’s beaming at him.

He’s also really going to have to get used to how little nudity bothers everyone around here.

“It takes a lot out of you the first few times.” Harry leans in seemingly out of nowhere. There’s an water bottle in his hand. “Here.”

“Cheers,” Louis says, voice a little husky. He drains half of it in one go.

“Well, you got through your first daylight shift,” Liam commends as Louis’ wiping his mouth. “Now just an indeterminate number more!”

Louis swears loudly, and Niall looks a mixture of amused and sympathetic.

“Can I take a breather?”

“Of course, but you don’t wanna take too long now that we’ve started. It’ll be easier on your body to push through, use the momentum.”

Louis nods, holding up a finger as he flops onto his side just as his wolf had done.

He shifts again. And then again. Over and over—fourteen times, to be exact.

Niall shifts with him every time, and by the ninth shift Harry has shed his clothes and donned his fur as well, eyes squinty and tongue lolling in the sun.

By the end Louis isn’t sure if it’s hurting less or if he’s numb from the pain. But by the time they call it quits he’s able to shift back to human completely without prompting, and only needs the barest nudge from Liam to get going. He’s covered in a sheen of sweat that grows cool in the breeze and relieves his tired muscles.

Louis is given a fresh pair of sweats (unbeloved this time, from the bottom of Harry’s drawer) but no shirt because he can’t be bothered, and is lying on his back on the grass. His chest heaves and his skin still tingles. The sun has moved to the other side of the sky, signalling that even the afternoon is getting on.

He’s probably starving, but his stomach can’t even be bothered to feel it, he’s so tired.

“Good job,” Niall smiles, back in clothes again as well. He’s lying parallel to Louis on his left.

Louis doesn’t move, just gives a thumbs up and lets it drop to his chest.

“Well I’m starved,” Harry announces, human but still naked. “Anyone up for a late lunch? I’ve got a taco kit in the pantry.”

There’s grumbly agreements but Louis honestly can’t even think of food. All he wants is to fall into bed and sleep for the rest of the weekend.

“Wanna hang around, Louis?” Liam asks. He throws a shirt at Harry, who just ties it around his neck as a cape and keeps walking, doing absolutely nothing for his modesty.

“I’m knackered if I’m honest,” Louis answers, pushing himself up. “Think I’d like to head home if it’s all the same.”

“Of course, you had a big day.”

And Louis doesn’t want to ask, but Niall saves him from it by saying, “I’ll give you a ride.”

“Thanks,” he breathes, putting every last bit of energy he has into standing up.

Niall ends up pulling him to his feet, standing close by his shoulder as he brushes himself off.

“Well, thanks for the life lessons, yeah?” he says mostly to Liam, who nods like a soldier being thanked for his service.

“Of course.” He looks like he’s unsure for a second, then clasps Louis’ shoulder briefly. “Glad we could help. Hopefully it’ll make things easier for you from here on out.”

“Yeah.”

Louis just stands there for a beat, waiting to see if Liam will drop some kind of hidden clause or tell him he can’t leave because of some super secret werewolf code he’s not privy to.

Instead, Liam just gives him a kindly wave and heads towards the house. Niall calls him, leading him around the deck towards the car port.

Louis’ feet hurt walking over the prickly gravel and he hops up into Niall’s pick-up, slumping against the worn leather.

“Seatbelts,” Niall says like it’s instinct, clicking his own into place before the engine fires up.

Louis just lets his head loll with the movement of the truck, eyes closed, listening to Niall hum absently to the radio. A few minutes pass before he opens his eyes, frowning at Niall.

“I didn’t give you my address.”

Niall smirks, tapping his nose, and Louis rolls his eyes.

“That is unbelievably creepy.”

“At least I’m trustworthy. Don’t have to worry about me showing up in the dead of night. Sure you can sense that by now, even with your unrefined wolf.”

“My wolf’s plenty refined, thankyou very much,” Louis argues, affronted even though Niall is perfectly right. “Likes a fine wine as much as anyone. And besides, even if I trust you, I still only just met your pals.”

“What’d you think of them, by the way?” Niall’s tone is light, questioning, like he isn’t at all offended by what Louis said.

“They’re alright,” Louis grunts, and then feels guilty, considering they just gave up their entire day to help him, a virtual stranger who just showed up at their home uninvited. He clears his throat. “Yeah, they uh… they seem like good lads.”

“The best,” Niall nods, as Louis starts to recognise the streets.

“So you all like… live there? On a farm?”

“It’s Liam’s place. Well his parents’ technically, but they left it for him. And yeah, Harry and I moved in over the years.”

“Is that standard?” Louis asks. “Like, packs living together?”

“It’s pretty common but it’s not law or anything. Just tends to be that you wanna live with your family, or the people most important in your life.”

Louis thinks about his mum and their full, overcrowded house, and then thinks about where he lives now.

“It’s not that weird,” Niall says, and Louis realises his silence sounds a whole lot like judgment.

“No, not at all. Kinda, uh—nice actually.”

“Yeah?” Niall smirks.

“Don’t be getting any ideas,” Louis waves a warning finger.

“I’m not trying to recruit you, stop pulling that,” Niall laughs, exasperated. “Just that I told you a pack was about support. We’re not a weird cult or anything, just a bunch of wolves that wanna take care of each other. We look out for each other.”

“Yeah,” Louis fiddles with his fingers. “That’d be—good.”

“We can still be buds, even if you consider yourself a lone wolf,” Niall winks.

Louis scoffs, but it’s in good humour. “Yeah.”

“And you can come hang out sometime, when you’ve got a night off or whatever. Since you took to Harry and Liam so well.”

His tone is slightly teasing but Louis can’t help the smile that invites itself onto his face, because he’d like that—he really would. When Niall glances at him he just nods.

Before he realises it, they’re pulling up outside his house. It looks even smaller after spending a day at the pack’s place. All the lights are probably still on. He hopes no one snuck in his very open back door while he was gone.

“Well, thanks, for the ride, and also for everything else,” Louis says, stuttered and a little awkward.

Niall’s just grinning easily as ever. “Of course. You shouldn’t be worried about full moons anymore, now that you’re Mr In-Control.”

Louis thinks he’s probably going to have to practice a bit more before he’s completely confident, but he doesn’t quite dread the idea of shifting as much as he did twenty-four hours ago.

“I’ll see you round, yeah Lou?”

“Sure you will,” Louis nods, opening the door and dropping onto the pavement. He takes the narrow path leading to the back of the house, and gives Niall one more wave as he idles on the curb. Louis hears the truck disappear back up the street once he’s out of sight.

He remembers to call his mum before promptly passing out for the rest of the afternoon.

***

Over the next couple of weeks, Louis really settles into his new life. He finishes unpacking the last of his boxes and familiarises himself with the aisles at his local supermarket enough that he doesn’t have to idle at the overhanging signs quite so long.

He starts memorising the names of kids in his class, and invites himself to join the conversation with his colleagues over lunch.

He learns the streets and shops and what beers are usually on tap, and even has a good chat with Nick, the bartender, so that even for a quick drink, he doesn’t feel totally alone.

He sees Niall almost every day.

He shows up at Louis’ house to check on him and invites him over of an evening for dinner. Louis’ still fairly juvenile in the kitchen and is not one to turn down a meal. Plus he does get a furtive little flutter in his chest every time Niall shows he’s thinking of Louis, even when they’re apart.

The one time Louis declines his invite, Niall shows up at his door later that evening with an oven dish that’s wrapped in foil and smells delicious.

In truth, he’s glad for the company. He finds he warms to Harry and Liam rapidly, and enjoys his peek into the inner workings of a pack. Despite his ongoing reservations, he is curious about how it all works. He’s more than a little surprised to discover that it’s just as Niall said—as they all said, really. They laugh and bicker and care for each other like any family unit, and while Louis refuses to be seduced by it, he can accept that perhaps his original suspicions were rather unfounded. 

They offer to help him learn more than just how to shift at will, and Louis jumps at the chance. Since that day he’s felt an ownership over himself he hadn’t felt in a very long time, and he wants to know everything he can.

One day they take him out to the woods behind the farm.

Louis stands in a modest clearing, a flat circle of earth between a handful of trees with gnarled roots that the ground can’t contain. Liam, Harry and Niall are spaced around him.

“You’re gonna find us, okay? Using your nose,” Liam instructs as he creeps back, Harry and Niall doing the same in different directions.

“Uh… okay,” Louis agrees, somewhat reluctantly.

Learning how to shift on his own seems to have cracked the shell around his other wolf senses. Things smell stronger now, even as a human. He can tell when his students are approaching the classroom before they get there, and voices stay with him long after they would normally be out of earshot.

“You can do it,” Harry whispers in encouragement, skipping backwards.

“Just concentrate,” Liam says.

Niall just smiles knowingly before the three of them take off, disappearing into the trees so Louis is left quite alone.

He can smell quite a bit in his immediate surroundings, plants and small animals and the earth itself. But he knows if he’s going to find any of the boys, he needs to be able to get past all that.

He looks around at how still everything is, how quiet, and closes his eyes.

The boys each have a distinct scent. Louis had noticed it the night he’d wandered onto their farm, but it had become clearer to him even as a human since then.

He thinks about how Harry carries the kitchen with him, how sometimes Liam smells like a barn and Louis has told him so. He thinks about how Niall sometimes smells like hard work, and other times like the open air at night. He thinks about all of them and breathes deeply, slowly.

 _There_. He has something. It’s gone as soon as it came but he knows it’d been carried in by the wind, and he knows where.

He opens his eyes, the corner of his mouth curling, and begins to move.

It wafts in and out, temperamental as the minor changes in air flow. It’s so quick that sometimes he loses whose scent it is, can’t grasp it long enough to recognise it as anything more than familiar. But perhaps that’s half the fun.

The wood grows thicker, the ground slightly more unsteady underfoot. He hears quick little animals fleeing when he’s near, hears birds calling overhead, unbothered by his presence.

He moves for what feels like ages, minutes upon minutes, sometimes veering one way, other times doubling back. He tries not to get frustrated, not to let it cloud his purpose.

Something rushes past on his left, making him freeze—listening. It’s fast, extremely quiet, but it’s close. He soaks up the scent, letting his nose guide him.

Even though he isn’t in wolf form, he feels himself give over to his senses to a degree. The world falls away and his movements become smoother, more instinctual. He stumbles less and ducks under branches, eyes laser focused ahead.

Louis is expecting to see the outline of shoulders at some point, but something sleeker, lower, darts through the trees. He recognises the colour of that fur.

“That’s cheating!” he shouts, pointing as he runs.

Niall answers with a bark.

“You’re faster!”

Niall turns on the spot, facing him just for a moment, framed in foliage. Louis keeps running. He can smell him so clearly now that he can see him, but just before he’s close enough to claim success Niall darts off to the side.

Louis makes a grab for him but misses, almost sliding to his knees on some moss. He goes for it again but Niall bounds out of the way, tail high and head low, tantalising. His tongue lolls out like he’s grinning.

“Think you’re so clever,” Louis grumbles, setting his foot against a rock and pushing off as hard as he can. Niall waits until he’s a breath away before he scatters. “You—” Louis spits, leaning on his knees to catch his breath.

Niall barks again, bounding around in a small circle, then a bigger one.

“I see what you want,” Louis breathes, reaching for the hem of his shirt. He pulls it over his head and sheds his shoes and jeans. “You better not let me forget where these are.”

Niall yips and takes off running in the other direction.

Louis bends forward, bracing him arms, and takes a few deep breaths. He feels his desire wash over him, start to vibrate in his bones, and he breathes out slowly, falling into it.

It still hurts, but nowhere near as much. It’s quick and sharp, over a moment after it begins, and then he’s pawing at the ground, getting a feel for it. He can smell Niall so much stronger and he huffs in delight, taking off.

Niall isn’t far ahead, his ears perked up like he was waiting. The moment he sees Louis he runs around in frantic glee, ready to make chase once again.

But Louis won’t stand for it this time, and he puts every ounce of energy into catching up, leaping forward and tackling Niall so they both go rolling through the scrub.

He puts up his best fight but Niall is more in control of himself in this form. He knows his own strength and he knows how to move around another wolf. He has Louis on his back, arms braced either side of his body and head hanging low against Louis’ neck.

His nose brushes through the fur at Louis’ throat and he growls low in his throat. Louis wiggles, but Niall drops until his body is holding Louis in place, one paw against Louis’ ear. Louis stops moving, rests his head to the side and feels the snuffle of Niall’s breath against his throat. It’s muted through the fur until Niall digs his nose in and it cuts right to the skin, a cold press before warm breath washes over it.

Their hearts are both beating fast with the chase, but as they lie there with Niall pinning Louis down, they start to settle. They slow, find an equal rhythm, pressing together as they beat as one.

It’s more than Louis’ ever given over, and in truth he’s comfortable here under Niall. He feels safe, not at all under threat, and he can tell by the way Niall’s posture softens that he feels the same. He pulls back just as Louis lifts his head and they look at each other, noses nudging gently.

But then Louis’ eyes glint and he growls, bares his teeth at Niall’s neck and pushes off. Niall gets back on his feet, pawing playfully at Louis with an approving twinkle in his own eyes. He pushes his nose into Louis’ neck and then trots in the other direction.

 _Yeah_ , Louis thinks, _let’s get them_.

It takes them almost no time at all to find Liam, sitting by a stream. He chuckles when he sees them come bounding through the trees.

Louis rushes forward and throws his paws against Liam’s chest in triumph. Liam just laughs and scratches at Louis’ neck in congratulations.

Harry, seemingly feeling left out, begins barking before he’s even visible. He has also apparently shifted. Louis waits for him to appear, but Harry just keeps barking, because Louis is supposed to come find _him_.

On the other side of a thick line of bushers, Harry is standing tall and eager, mouth open happily. Louis dashes for him and Harry bounds towards him as well, defeating the object of the task as they tumble around. They wrestle until Harry ends up on his back, pawing at Louis’ face.

Louis practises with his senses every day after that. When Niall turns into his street a few nights later, Louis has the door open before he’s even parked.

At some point this all becomes less about being free of the wolf for Louis, and more about finding himself _in_ the wolf. Without his even noticing, Louis begins to include the wolf in his future—and he wants it.

***

Louis’ greatest concern when moving out of home had been leaving his mum and family behind. His second greatest concern had been leaving his entire circle of friends for a place where he had none. He’d been the first to move away, and had no gauge for what it’d been like for anyone else.

He’d expected his best chance at a social circle to be his work colleagues—there are quite a few young teachers in his age bracket. However, he hasn’t spent an entire moment of his personal time working on that at all. He doesn’t have time, what with spending almost every night with the pack.

Like so many other nights, tonight Louis is back at the farm to watch a footy game. Although Harry has deemed it a celebratory three-week dinner since it has been exactly twenty-one days since Louis received the keys to his house.

After Harry’s ‘famous’ roast, second only to Louis’ mum’s, Louis is sat in the living room with Harry leaning into his personal space as he scrolls through his camera roll.

“Six!” Harry shouts, eyes shining, as Louis points out his army of siblings.

Louis revels in the chance to show them all off, and his phone is at the ready with hundreds of pictures. Ones from birthdays and ordinary nights around the TV, selfies Louis has taken with them and a few they’ve taken on their own.

“Oh,” Harry coos at a picture of the youngest twins in matching onesies.

Louis laughs when he remembers they’d been running nude through the halls two minutes later.

“They’re little terrors,” he says with a hint of pride.

“Adorable ones, though,” Harry smiles, scrolling along.

“Yeah,” Louis agrees quietly.

They reach a selfie Louis had taken with Ernest, one of the baby twins and his only brother. Their faces are both wide and grinning.

“You seem like a good big brother,” Harry says, smiling at Louis.

He squirms a moment before declaring, “Why thank you Harold,” in an overly official tone.

“Do you miss them?” Harry asks, brushing right past Louis’ attempt at levity. His shoulders sag and the mocking expression falls away.

“Yeah,” he admits, locking his phone. The screen goes dark, reflecting him now, alone.

Harry doesn’t say anything and Louis feels compelled to go on and fill the silence.

“Just. My mum, it’s not like she’s alone now. She’s got Dan. But it was good, being there to just make sure everything was okay. You know?”

Harry nods in understanding as Louis looks down at his beer. He sets it back on the table, figuring he’s probably had enough of that.

“What about you? Any family?” Louis redirects, clearing his throat.

“My parents split when I was younger too. Grew up with my mum, stepdad, and sister mostly. We were all close. I missed them a lot when I moved away.” There’s just a flash of sadness before his face is bright again. “But I’ve got the pack now. They’re my family too.”

“Right, of course,” Louis nods as Liam walks in.

“The second half started yet?”

“Not yet, lad.”

“Good, good, didn’t want to miss it,” Liam nods cheerfully, finding a seat.

“I gotta check the meringues,” Harry suddenly recalls, eyes wide. He clasps Louis’ knee briefly before getting up.

There’s some sort of children’s footy game happening in the half time interim, which is vaguely amusing. Louis watches as one of the slightly older kids tries to guide a toddler in the direction they’re supposed to kick the ball. They have little success as she heads to the side of the field instead.

“So how are you going?” Liam asks, catching his attention.

Louis folds one leg beneath himself. “What, just in general? Big question there, Liam.”

“With your wolf,” Liam clarifies, tipping his beer towards Louis.

“You should know, I’ve seen you almost every other day.”

“True!” Liam’s face crinkles like the idea makes him happy. If Louis’ being honest with himself, it makes him happy too.

“But really,” Liam calms, and his face shapes itself into something attentive, open. “It’s a lot for a few weeks. And you’ve been doing really well, mate. But how’s it all _feeling_?”

“It’s…” Louis thinks for a second, trying to decide how much to say. He remembers that Liam’s seen him naked, and figures there’s not much left to hide. “It’s good, honestly. I used to like, I used to so dread having to shift. The pain, obviously, but also it felt like I was losing myself, you know?”

Liam nods agreeably.

“It doesn’t feel like that anymore, though. It’s still not exactly me—I mean. You get it, yeah? You’re you but like, it’s so much less in your head. But now I still kinda feel like me. I don’t feel like I’m on the verge of disappearing anymore, I can still be me.”

Liam’s smiling like he couldn’t be happier for Louis.

Louis feels so free, talking about it like this.

“That’s what a pack does,” Liam says. Louis feels the urge to argue flare up but Liam isn’t being didactic, isn’t playing salesman. He’s just talking. “They keep you grounded, keep you consistent both as a person and the wolf. All the wolves I’ve ever met that don’t have a pack, they struggle with it. They’re usually the ones who bite people.”

Louis’ heart flares at that, just briefly. He tries not to show it.

“Did you always have a pack?”

Liam nods. “There were a lot of wolves back home. A few packs in town. After I was bitten I was approached fairly quickly, and I learned a lot.”

“So you grew up with this?”

“Yeah. I was only a kid when I was bitten.”

Louis had struggled so much at sixteen. He can’t imagine what it would’ve been like to be bitten even younger.

“When did you become an alpha?”

“Not till I moved here. Till not long before I met Niall.”

“How’d you know… how to be an alpha?”

Liam pauses, thinking. “You just… you sense it. What your wolves need. Plus I’d had a good alpha, been around other good alphas. It’s like a lot of this business. You just feel it.”

Louis think about the feeling that washes over him every time he steps into this house, whenever he’s around the pack as a group. They just exude ease. He suspects he would’ve hit his panic button many times already if it weren’t for how hospitable they are, how safe he feels around them. And as their leader, that largely comes from Liam.

“Well you gotta pat yourself on the back, mate, cause you’re doing a good job.”

Liam pinks, takes another swig of his beer.

“Well you’re always welcome here, pack or not.”

It’s still hard to understand, that he doesn’t owe them for the help they’ve given. That Louis can take it and leave, if he wants to.

He really doesn’t want to.

“I’m gonna grab another,” he says, shaking his empty bottle. “You want?”

Liam holds up a palm in thanks.

Louis squeezes past Harry in the doorway and finds Niall stacking the last of the plates in the dishwasher. The room is warm from the oven.

“If you’re here to help, you’re too late,” Niall grins.

“Right on schedule, actually.” Louis reaches into the fridge for a beer, as has become custom after he’d been here a mere few days. Louis is definitely up for making himself feel at home once the invitation is offered. Liam had offered it the second day he was here.

“Not that you’d be much use,” Niall shrugs. “Seen the state of your sink.”

“Hey,” Louis whips around. “I’ll have you know it’s properly clean most of the time.”

“Yeah, on the days you don’t use it. I’ve seen how often you’re eating from takeout containers too. Your rubbish bin is even worse than your sink.”

Louis shoots him an obscene gesture but Niall just laughs, looking quite impressed with himself.

“I imagine bin duty’s rough with you three.”

Niall tips his head from side to side. “Not really. Mostly home-cooking around here. And Harry’s got a compost.”

“Of course he does.”

“Plus, not all our meals are in here. There was an overpopulation of rabbits a couple of years back.”

Louis snickers. “Council should pay you for that.”

 “I’d love to see Liam petition them for that,” Niall cackles.

“Subsidise our tax on account of us doing the job of your pest control department.”

“Tax dollars kept in your pockets!”

They’re both laughing, having found their way to each other’s side to lean against the bench. Louis’ fingers play with the rim of his bottle as the laughter dies down.

“You, um,” Louis clears his throat. “You got a good thing here. I know I’m always pushing against the whole pack thing, but it seems like it’s really good for you. For all of you.”

Niall watches him, eyes soft.

“It is.” He rests his hand against the lip of the bench by Louis’ hip. “Could be good for you too,” he adds quietly.

“Niall…”

“I know, I know, you don’t need a pack. Don’t want one, even. But it’s been nice, you know? Having you around, a new mate.”

Niall’s gaze remains low, his free hand fidgeting with the belt loop on his jeans. Louis shifts so he’s turned a little more towards him, and they’re close. Really close, and he can feel his wolf wants to be even closer.

It’s strange, but he can almost sense that Niall feels the same, their wolves somehow symbiotic in their understanding. Their sides are almost pressed against each other and Louis can feel the light indent of Niall’s knuckle against his shirt.

“Yeah,” Louis says absently, responding to nothing in particular.

Niall looks up at him and he’s lost all focus, can just feel a strange subconscious beat inside. He thinks its maybe their hearts slowing, synchronising.

Everything is so incredibly still, and then Liam cheers raucously from the living room and they both jump so far apart that only then does Louis realise how close they actually were.

“You boys coming? You’re missing it!”

They meet eyes, Niall rubbing at the back of his neck a little awkwardly. They give each other half a smile before Louis says, “We should…”

“Yeah,” Niall agrees, and they both make their way into the living room, Louis’ heart still beating to the same rhythm of another.

***

Louis sets his feet up on the coffee table, groaning with relief.

He loves his job—knew he’d love it since he picked a career path back at school. But a room of two dozen kids is draining, no matter how keen you are, doubly so when you’re trying to make a good impression in your first few weeks of employment.

Louis catches a familiar scent and grabs for his phone, shooting Niall a quick text. _Door’s open._

A moment later he hears the pick-up pull up outside, and soon after that, Niall lets himself in.

“That’s not safe, you know,” he shouts from the hall.

“I’m a werewolf!” Louis shouts back.

Niall saunters in, dropping into the armchair like he lives here, and kicks one foot up beside Louis’.

“What are you, an animal?” Louis says, knocking his foot against Niall’s.

“Yeah,” Niall grins. “Long day?”

“You’ve no idea,” Louis breathes. “Only just got in.”

“What do you think’s easier, working with thirty kids or four cows three times your size?”

“If this is your bid at sympathy I’ll have you know that my work day lasts far longer than yours.”

Niall squawks, kicking back at Louis’ foot. “Do you even know how a farm works?”

“Mmm.” Louis closes his eyes. “Not really.”

Niall tosses a cushion at his head, and Louis adds it to the pile he’s lounging on.

“Hey, Harry wanted me to extend an invitation to dinner on Friday for his ‘experimental cooking night.’” Niall makes inverted commas with his fingers. “Told him there was no need to be all formal, chances are you’d be ‘round that night anyway. But he insisted.”

“Ah, ‘fraid I can’t this Friday, sorry. Tell Haz to save me some leftovers and I’ll come by Saturday. Although if he’s getting experimental I may not want any.” He presses a finger to his chin. “I’ll leave that to your discretion.”

“What’s going on Friday?”

“This woman at work, Kerry, she’s having a birthday dinner and inviting a bunch of us. I don’t really know my colleagues all that well yet but should be an okay night,” he shrugs.

The corners of Niall’s mouth turn down. “Louis, Friday is the full moon.”

“So?”

“So, do you think that’s a good idea? It’s kind of the worst possible night of the month for you to have a pub night.”

“It’s at some fancy restaurant downtown. And it’ll be fine. You lot have taught me how to control it, yeah? I don’t have to shift on the full moon anymore. Or did you just block out the last three weeks,” Louis scolds playfully. “And I thought we were bonding.”

“Just ‘cause you can shift at will doesn’t mean Friday’s gonna be freewheeling.” Niall leans forward in his chair, mouth set. “The moon’s gonna make it a lot harder for you to control your form. Much harder than you trying to shift on an average day.”

Louis sets his feet on the ground. “Niall, I’ve been practising all month. Liam hasn’t even needed to prompt me after the first week. I think I’ll be able to keep it together for a couple of hours on Friday.”

“You’re still new to this, Louis. You have no idea the pull the moon has, even if you think you’re a pro.”

“I’ve been a wolf for a long time, Niall. I think I know how strong the pull is,” Louis rolls his eyes, feeling somewhat patronised.

“Exactly. Trust me, it’s gonna be too much for you. You should come to the farm, hang out with us, eat whatever Harry’s planning on cooking. We can look after you.”

“I don’t need _looking after_. I’m not some kind of abandoned pup.” Louis’ voice is sharp and Niall winces.

Louis softens his posture, sighing.

“Look, it’s really important to me that I go. I wanna get to know everyone I work with, have a good working relationship with them.”

He levels Niall with a solemn look. He can’t help thinking about the life he left behind, so full and populated.

“I don’t wanna sound ungrateful,” he says. “You lads have been such good mates… you most of all.” Louis diverts his eyes. “I just… wanna have a full life here. I wanna get on well with everyone at work and this is a great opportunity to get to know them. To do it properly.”

Niall looks a little sorry, but not regretful.

“I get that, Louis, I do.”

“I can do this,” Louis smiles, optimistic. “Don’t worry your head.”

Niall just grimaces. A whole series of emotions flash across his face, like he’s trying to decide which will win out. Eventually he drops his head, gives it a little shake.

“Okay. I hope you have a good night.”

Louis nods, lets the silence sit until it starts to feel like it’s weighing on him, like it’s hurting them.

“So, you know of any good Thai around here?” he asks, and Niall looks up. “Seems like there’s nothing but Italian and Greek as far as the eye can see.”

***

The moment Louis wakes on Friday morning he knows it’s the full moon. He can feel that familiar dull ache he’s had one morning a month since he was sixteen.

But he stretches, feels confident that he has control over his body for the first time in his life, and gets up to prepare for work.

It’s always rough when the full moon doesn’t fall on a weekend, when he can’t beg off and spend the day on his couch with the blinds drawn. When instead he has to be _on_ , has to join the world and contribute to society and pretend like his skeleton isn’t preparing to rearrange itself.

Admittedly, today is not as bad as its been in the past. He’s spent the past month getting his muscles very familiar with the sensation of a shift, and his body seems to recall it now. He feels like the day after one of his ill-fated attempts at fitness, when the stretch still lingers in his body. It’s mild enough that he can get through a day of five-year-olds without snapping at anyone and losing his temper.

He has to stay back for a couple of hours after the final school bell to fix up his classroom after their afternoon art lesson. He could do it Monday morning before class but that seems like a particular cruelty to inflict upon his Monday morning self. A few friendly faces wave him off in the carpark, declaring they’ll see him later tonight. He smiles and agrees.

By the time Louis gets home, he still has a while to get ready—doesn’t have to be at the restaurant ‘til seven. Just a few minutes after sunset.

He gives himself a bit of time to rest, to sit back because he can definitely feel the twinge in his joints getting stronger as the moon gets higher.

The sky darkens as he dresses and fiddles with his hair in the mirror. By the time he gets into his car, the glow on the horizon is fading.

As always, Louis feels the moment the sun sets, feels it ripple through his body. His foot stutters briefly on the break and he grips the steering wheel so hard the leather creaks, just for a second. But he grits his teeth and straightens his posture and it’s… okay. It’s okay. He’s okay.

He’s in the restaurant a couple of minutes after seven and the maître d' guides him to a long, lively table. He does a round of greetings and gives Kerry a happy birthday hug before finding a seat toward the other end. He tries to pretend his legs aren’t wobbly as he drops down.

Louis reaches for the complimentary water jug to pour himself a drink as Alan, a fifth-grade teacher, instantly grabs him in conversation. He’s big on footy and latched onto Louis the moment he saw the peeling Rovers sticker on the back of his car.

It’s a Friday night, and there are more people out than Louis thinks he’s even seen walking the main street on an average day. The restaurant is relatively loud, and Louis would fit right in were it not fifteen minutes past sunset on a full moon.

It takes five minutes for the waiter to come take the drinks order, and five more after that to deliver them. Louis opts for a ginger ale, as he figures tonight is the last night he should let go with a little alcohol.

He’s sitting beside Eve, one of the admin assistants. She’s around Louis age with a young daughter who’s just started to babble, and Eve is eagerly showing videos on her Instagram to anyone who gives even the vaguest hint of interest. Louis gets caught up twice, although the videos are quite cute so he feels Eve is justified.

However, between Eve and Kerry, the birthday girl, there’s quite enough going on to keep the attention off Louis. It’s a relief, because the further the clock ticks past sunset, the more trouble Louis is having keeping his composure.

He’d felt sore after a few minutes at the table, Eve’s gentle hand on his arm felt like a hardcover book dropped from a second storey building. After the greetings there’d been little reason for any human contact, so he had figured it was okay. But he’s starting to feel warm, almost feverish, and he wipes his hand surreptitiously against his thigh.

By the time the waiter returns to take their appetiser order, he’s gritting his teeth to keep them from chattering.

He’s not hiding it well enough because Eve leans in and murmurs, “Should I get the waiter to check the thermostat? I’m feeling a bit chilly in here myself.”

Louis doesn’t know if she’s being honest or just trying to make him feel better, but he quickly shakes his head. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine, no adjustments necessary on account of me.”

He goes to reach for his ale but changes his mind when he notices he can’t keep his hand steady.

“Did you want to borrow my jacket?” Eve tugs at the blazer draped over the back of her chair.

“Really, love, I’m right.”

She nods, turning back to the conversation, and Louis swipes at the damp under his fringe. His legs are cramping, his muscles tensing rhythmically. He’s holding on so tight, his stomach is starting to feel queasy.

The clock across the room reads 7:20pm, and Louis feels panic bubble up under his skin. He’s in so much pain and it’s so early; the night’s barely even begun. No one is even eating yet.

He should’ve listened to Niall’s warning—he’s such a fool for thinking he knew better. He can hear Niall’s words now, his warning against the strength of the full moon’s pull. Louis can feel it, the way it demands the shift, beckoning his wolf. It’s greater with each passing minute he remains human.

“Louis, are you okay?”

His head snaps up. Kerry, at the head of the table, is eying him with concern.

“What?” he says absently, squinting a bit to focus.

“Are you feeling okay? You look a bit off.”

“Oh.” He shakes his head, comes back to himself. Sees a dozen pairs of eyes on him. “Yes, I’m—thankyou. I’m fine, I’m just gonna—to the bathroom for a tic. Excuse me.”

He tries valiantly not to stumble out of his seat, walks briskly to the toilet symbol he’d spotted on the wall earlier. He’s sure everyone watches him go, but hopes they don’t.

The bathroom is spacious, well-lit, and he almost falls to his knees the second the door clicks closed behind him. He groans, balling his hands into fists before falling against one of the sinks. He grips the rim, the porcelain a cool relief under his hands, and looks at his reflection.

There’s a sheen across his face, his fringe plastered down with sweat. He looks exactly as he feels—barely human. There’s a yellow tint to his eyes.

He meets his own gaze in the reflection when there’s a sharp tug at his spine, like someone’s threaded the bones with fishing line and given it a yank.

Louis realises in that moment that there’s no escaping this. He’s going to shift. He’s going to shift no matter how hard he fights. It’s going to happen in this intricately tiled bathroom with potpourri bowls between the sinks.

His breathing is harsh, chest shuddering, and his fingers clumsily feel for his phone in his pocket. It clatters to the ground as his muscles cramp and he buckles with a sharp cry. 

Now. It’s happening _now_.

Louis rips at his shirt, tries to get it off before it tears—to at least minimise the damage. He’s on his knees pulling at his jeans when he hears that tell-tale crunch and his body rocks forward.

It’s much faster than any other full moon shift, but it still hurts like every single one of them. It seems the moon isn’t going to let him off easy, no matter how much work went into the last month. He’s so focused on not screaming against the tiles that he doesn’t even have time to keep an eye on the door lest someone walk in.

Between one gasping breath and the next, he’s a wolf.

The tiles feel unnatural under his paws. He steps out of his jeans and pads in a tight circle. The potpourri is so much stronger now, pungent and sickly, and it’s just one of many things that keeps Louis’ wolf heart pounding in panic.

Louis feels absolutely lost in that moment, stuck in a bathroom with forty odd people on the other side of the door, and the inevitability that eventually someone is going to come in and see him.

His nails click against the tiles as he scampers across the floor.  The walls feel closer and the ceiling is too low, mini chandeliers hanging low enough for Louis to reach if he leapt for them. He pants, tongue dry and breath shallow.

Whining, Louis turns in another hopeless circle and wishes he were anywhere but here. Wishes he could see the sky, wishes he weren’t alone.

The door bursts open with startling force. Louis skitters under the sinks and lies low against the tiles, scared and sprung, before he realises it’s Niall.

“Louis,” he breathes, hands outstretched and eyes wide. Louis lifts his head, whines again, and paws his way out from under the sink.

Niall locks the door so they’re safe before coming to crouch in front of Louis. He looks flushed and out of breath. Louis noses at his hands, ears flattened against his head and tail curled tight against his belly. He’s panting harshly, ribs expanding fast beneath his fur, and Niall rests one hand over them.

“Louis, hey, its’ okay.” Niall threads his fingers through the fur at Louis’ nape as Louis crouches closer, head still low, still so uneasy. He smells familiar, _safe_ , finally something stronger than the potpourri.

“It’s okay,” Niall repeats, stroking Louis’ muzzle with one hand as the other smooths down the expanse of his back. Niall settles on one knee, and Louis rests his head there, feels the sharp point of it beneath his chin.

Niall breathes slow and even, and Louis feels himself starting to calm. He nudges his nose against Niall’s chest and lets his heart peter out until they’re once again beating in time.

“That’s it,” he soothes. “We’re gonna get you out of here, okay?”

 _How?_ Louis asks with a sad tilt of his head.

“But you’re going to have to shift back first.”

Louis doesn’t move, sits in place with his eyes on Niall. He can’t fathom how he’s going to manage to shift back into human form after he lost the fight staying that way in the first place.

“I know it sounds impossible. But I know you can do it—I’m going to help you do it.”

Louis tucks his head down and nudges back, trying to get across that he doesn’t believe him.

“You _can_ , okay? Look at me, we’re gonna do this now.” He cups Louis’ head and lifts it up so they’re looking each other in the eyes. “Together, alright? Like last time.”

He lets go of Louis and pulls back, leaving a foot of space between them. Louis stretches his nose forward to minimise the space.

“Okay, stand up. Breathe slowly. Think about how it felt to shift back the last time you did it.”

Louis obeys hesitantly. He stands with his paws apart, huffs and closes his eyes. He remembers how shifting back came to feel, like he was tipping himself over an edge, like he fell out of his fur and back into his skin. But he could feel that his body wasn’t going to be as cooperative this time. That it wasn’t going to be a fall, it was going to be a jump.

“You have to remember how this room felt before you shifted, focus on that tactile memory,” Niall says. He splays his fingers against the tiles. “How did this feel before you turned? How did opening the door feel, touching the sink. You need to remember how the world felt under human hands so you can work towards it.”

Louis had been in so much pain and panic before he turned, he’s not sure he can remember any of that.

He looks at the door, at the way the handle refuses to reflect the light. Oh, he remembers that. It had felt rough under his hand, rusted rather than smooth.

He remembers how the basin of the sink had felt cool in contrast to the granite it was encased in. He remembered how the tiles had been a relief against the ache in his hands before they became harsh against his paws. He remembers all of this.

“Good, Louis, good,” Niall says softly, eagerly. Louis doesn’t know what’s happening but he’s spurred on by the tone of his voice. His body feels loose, pliant now that the moon got what it wanted, and he stretches his claws against the tiles, hears the click, remembers how it felt when his hands were bigger and he could hold on.

Just like last time, like every other time he shifted in the last month, Louis wants it. He lets his desire pull him back over the edge and usher in the change, just like Liam had taught.

He can feel the resistance, like he’s moving in the wrong direction, but he wishes for it even harder. He shivers bodily, feels his bones become fluid and his breath go tight just for a second before air floods his lungs again.

“Louis, hey.” Niall’s voice sounds different. Closer yet more outside himself. “You did it.”

Louis opens his eyes and Niall is right. He’s kneeling on the floor, not a patch of fur to be seen, his fingers uncurling to reveal pink nails.

Niall’s hand rests gently on his shoulder and Louis looks up, vision still a bit blurred from how tightly he squeezed them. The tiles are freezing against his legs.

“Come on,” Niall says gently. “Let’s get you dressed and out of here.”

Louis recognises his shirt in Niall’s hand and accepts it gratefully. It’s comforting against his skin. His jeans are fine but it looks like he tore through his underwear during the shift. He’ll go without.

That tugging ache refills his bones, but it’s no longer urgent. A nudge from the moon, nothing more. Niall pulls him to his feet and stands by the sink as he pulls on his jeans.

Niall then gathers his shoes and places them at Louis’ feet, urging him to lean on his shoulders. Louis does, pushing his feet into the shoes regardless of laces. He’s completely sapped of his strength, like if he let his head rest against any reasonably flat surface he’d pass right out.

“Ready to go?” Niall stands, head dipping to catch Louis’ eyes.

Louis nods lightly. “Yeah. Let me say sorry for skipping out.”

“I’ll meet you at the door.”

The clinking of countless forks against countless plates is agony to his ears when he’s back out in the restaurant. He sidles between tables until he reaches Kerry.

“Louis! You’ve been gone so long, we were all worried.”

“Thanks, love. Think I’m gonna take off, to be honest. Not feeling too good.”

“You do look a bit peaky. Get some rest, yeah?” She focuses her dark, concerned eyes on him.

“I will. Thanks for the invite though. Happy birthday.”

She pulls him down and they press cheeks in a friendly kiss. Louis’ all sweaty and doesn’t imagine there’s anything pleasant about the experience on her end. He waves everyone else off with a general goodbye.

Niall’s standing at the door as promised and leads them out to his pick-up, parked conveniently at the curb. He opens the door for Louis, eying the way he drags his feet.

“Thanks for this, Nialler,” Louis sighs once they’re both buckled in. “For all of it. I… I tried to call you but I couldn’t. How’d you even know to come?”

“Just sensed it,” Niall says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Like Louis should’ve known he didn’t need to call at all.

Louis blinks. “You sensed I needed help?”

“Sensed you were, like, in distress. Told you when you got into town, I picked up on your scent. I knew there was something wrong tonight. Had to come find you.”

Louis’ leaning against the headrest, looking at the way Niall’s looking back at him so openly. Even with the full moon out he feels… settled. His heart still follows the rhythm it found in Niall back in the bathroom.

“Thankyou,” Louis says again, because he isn’t sure of what else to say.

Niall gives him a crooked smile, reaching to wipe at Louis’ sweaty forehead with his palm.

“Anytime, Lou.”

Louis doesn’t even question it when Niall drives them straight to the farm.

***

It’s warm when Louis wakes. He’s tucked under a knit blanket, his head resting on a woven cushion. His first thought is that the layout of his lounge room is all wrong, until he realises it isn’t his lounge room at all. But he does recognise it.

“Morning,” comes a rumbly voice.

Louis lifts himself onto one elbow, looking around blearily until he sees Harry reclined in an armchair. His hair is pulled back into a rough bun and his hand fiddles with the remote. Louis realises that pulsing light is the TV playing on low.

“Hey,” Louis croaks, attempting to sit himself in some sort of sociable position, given this isn’t even his house.

“Waffles for breakfast,” Harry sings, like he doesn’t even have to think twice about Louis waking up there.

Louis gives a stilted nod. “Sounds great.”

Neither of them move for a few minutes. Harry puts the volume a little higher while Louis tries to recapture everything that happened last night.

He’s not at work, which would make today Saturday, which would make yesterday Friday, which would make last night…

“The dinner,” he says, and Harry says, “Hm?”

“I—nothing. Just… catching up.”

Harry nods like he gets it, which he probably does, and goes into the kitchen.

“Morning, Louis.” Liam slides the back door open, already fully dressed and kicking off his boots before he steps inside.

“Hi.”

There’s dried grass stuck to his jeans and he’s wearing a moderately wide-brimmed hat that casts a wider shadow. He’s got a set to his shoulders that most people don’t get until 10am, after their second coffee. Louis is more than a little intimidated by Liam’s work ethic in the morning.

“Thanks for uh, letting me crash.” Louis gestures at himself.

“You know you’re always welcome,” Liam says earnestly.

Louis smiles, feels a tug in his heart.

Liam digs into the fanny pack slung around his waist and holds up a few eggs in each hand. “Snagged us a few for breakfast.”

“Harry said we’re having waffles.”

“He won’t notice a pan frying on the side,” Liam gently puts the eggs back so he can wave a hand carelessly.

“You sure this is your place? Have you ever shared the kitchen with Harry before? Even I know that’s a dangerous game.”

“Trust me,” he winks, heading to the kitchen.

It occurs to Louis that Liam may have greater pull as alpha.

Louis hears a briefly murmured back and forth before the distinct sound of sizzling eggs. He hasn’t seen Niall yet, but he’s eager to after last night. He has things he wants to say.

Despite his best laid plans, Louis doesn’t see him until they’re all at the table piling up their plates. Niall slouches in, still rubbing his eyes.

“Convenient timing,” Liam smirks.

Niall taps his nose. “Always ready, even in sleep.”

He sits to Louis’ right and gives him a lopsided smile, like a full one is still too much work. He pats Louis’ arm lightly but his eyes are focused on the food.

It’s unexpectedly quiet. Louis has only been here this early once before, and everyone else had been well and truly awake that time. This is the first time he’s been over before everyone was properly switched on. Aside from Liam of course—Louis isn’t sure Liam ever switches off.

Louis would feel like he’s intruding, but he supposes this is probably fairly pleasant compared with the last time. At least this time he has his clothes on.

“Gonna scrub up my boots,” Niall says, pushing up from the table once he’s cleared his plate. “Still got muck on ‘em.”

Harry and Liam give a roundabout acknowledgment, and Louis almost forgets to thank Harry before scrambling after him.

“Niall!”

He steps onto the deck, bare feet chilly against the timber. Niall’s got sweats and fleecy boots on, reaching down to his work boots at the edge of the deck. He smiles softly when he sees Louis.

“Hey, you feeling okay?”

He turns to settle his attention completely on Louis, not even attempting to multitask.

“Yeah. Good I guess. Usual morning after but...”

“Mmm, you dropped off pretty quickly when we got home. Shifting back under the full moon for the first time really takes it out of you.”

“I can definitely feel that,” Louis jokes, flexing his fingers. They feel stiff, like a lot of the rest of him.

Niall smirks, waiting for whatever Louis came here to say. Louis just looks at how gently all the curves of his face come together, how his hair is flat and mussed because he hasn’t done anything with it yet. It looks coarse, like hair gets when it’s washed every day. Matte, no natural shine, but Niall shines enough all on his own.

“Well, I better…” he trails of, motioning to his boots.

Louis snaps back to attention, feeling the words swell and dissipate in his mouth. His shoulders slump.

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“No worries.”

And that’s the thing. Nothing ever worries Niall. Not having a new werewolf roll into town unannounced, not having that wolf show up to his house without invitation, in need of help. Not inviting him over a few nights a week and dropping by most others to make sure he’s fed and alive and a little less alone. Not even showing up to save that wolf from his very own foolishness.

Nothing every worries Niall, and a lot less has worried Louis since he met him.

“Wait—Niall,” he blurts out, just as Niall reaches for his boots.

Louis can feel the momentum bubbling in his stomach and if he doesn’t do it now it’ll be too late—already is.

He groans, grabs at Niall’s shoulders and pulls him in.

Niall breathes surprised air against his lips, hands tight on Louis’ biceps to anchor them. But then he loosens, lets his eyes fall shut and presses back. It’s warm, both of them breathing heavily through their noses and Louis hasn’t done this in a really long time, hopes he still knows how.

It feels amazing, feels exactly like Niall. It’s slow and non-demanding, and when they shift their noses bump and it’s a little giggly as well.

Niall’s fingers are gentle on his arms, his thumb rubbing back and forth, catching on the cuff of his sleeve.

Niall pushes him back by his forehead after a moment, resting against Louis’ so there’s just an inch between their mouths.

“Reckon those buggers are getting a good look,” Niall huffs, and his breath is sugary from the syrup earlier. Louis laughs softly, realises how little he thought this through.

“Not a bad view, I’d imagine.”

Niall tilts his head in just enough that Louis feels the whisper of his lips before he breaths out, blowing the space back between them.

“What was that for anyway?”

Now that Louis gets a good look, Niall’s cheeks are flushed and his eyes are a little glassy. Louis feels the same way.

“Kinda been wanting to do that for a while,” he admits.

Niall smiles, eyes dropping. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

Louis laughs. They’re still so close all the way down to their toes. “Also wanted to say thank you.”

“You already did that.”

“ _Really_ say it.”

“Message received.”

Louis is concentrating so hard that Niall goes in and out of focus. He pulls back a bit more and thankfully Niall keeps a hold on his arms, understands they aren’t separating yet. Louis is smiling so widely his cheeks hurt. He takes a deep breath, steels himself.

“I like…” He starts the sentence with a million possible endings—has endless things he could confess in this moment. Niall watches him patiently, barely blinking. Louis doesn’t want to go too big all at once, to jump ahead, but he does want to be honest. He relaxes under Niall’s hands. “You.”

Niall’s eyes bulge for a second, a bashful smile flushing his face.

“Kinda worked that out from the kiss,” he says. Louis blushes. “But, me too.”

“I also like… uh,” Louis begins, once again riding the momentum. “I like being here, with you. Well anywhere with you, really, but specifically here.”

Niall’s got this look on his face like he can tell Louis is using as many words as possible to avoid a specific few. Louis’ not ready for them yet. He’s got a few more that need to come first.

“My mum… she was the only one who made me feel safe as a wolf.”

Louis has always associated being a wolf with being afraid, being vulnerable, despite his claws and teeth. Ever since he was first turned.

“And even then, I was a little scared of hurting her, or someone else in my family. One of the kids. But here at the farm, with you, it’s the first time anyone else made me feel that way. Like I wasn’t in danger, or a threat. It’s like for the first time I could actually enjoy it. I didn’t know I could enjoy it.”

Niall looks a mixture between moved and sad. “Of course you should enjoy it, Lou. It’s not a curse, no matter what the movies say.”

“You’re the one that showed me that.”

Louis presses his thumb into Niall’s hip bone. Niall squirms when he increases the pressure and grabs at Louis’ hand. Louis leaves it there.

“I’ve still obviously got a long way to go. Last night made that clear,” he says sheepishly. “I was hoping… I could go that distance with you.”

Niall’s biting at his lip even as his cheeks bunch up under his eyes.

“’Course,” he mumbles, brushing his thumb across Louis’ knuckles.

“All of you?” Louis asks, heart beating quicker.

Niall’s brow wobbles. “Do you—” Then it smooths out. “Are you asking to join the pack?”

Louis shrugs one shoulder, tries not to show how hard his heart is pounding even though he’s sure Niall can feel it. “If you’ll have me.”

Niall’s given up all pretence of keeping it together, rocking up on the balls of his feet as his hands slide down Louis’ arms, finding his hands. He looks unimaginably happy for a moment, before he clears his throat and visibly attempts to reel it in.

“Think it’s probably more up to Liam.”

“Liam says yes!” someone shouts behind them. Louis turns to see Harry tripping out the glass doors, eyes and smile bright. “Liam definitely approves.”

“Do I now?” Liam says, one eyebrow raised at Harry as he follows.

“Of course you do,” Harry dismisses with a wave, coming to stand next to Louis and absolutely beaming. Louis is very aware that his hands are still in Niall’s.

He looks at Liam, who doesn’t at all seem like he’s about to put up a fight. He rolls his eyes at Harry even as he claps Louis’ shoulder and nods.

There’s no discernible change in that moment, not that Louis can feel. There’s no supernatural wave of energy or the feeling of his soul being signed over. The breeze is soft and the day is quiet and Niall’s hands keep hold of his.

And in the end, joining a pack doesn’t feel all that different from being invited into a family.

***

“Come on.”

Liam groans, sinking down deeper into the couch.

“Come on, come on, come _on_.”

“Stop it.”

“Come on, Payno.”

“It’s not the night.”

“It _is_ the night,” Louis insists with a stern eye.

Liam levels him with as little enthusiasm as Louis has ever seen him muster. “Last night was the night, and the one before that. And before that.”

“You are absolutely correct,” Louis nods. “They were all the night, and so is this.”

“I need a night off.”

“You’re a terrible leader.”

“If I’m the leader, why don’t you listen to me?”

“Because I’m not an automaton.”

“Too bad,” Liam grumbles, turning up the volume on the TV.

“You can have tomorrow night off,” Louis reasons, resting one hand on his hip. He raises an eyebrow as if Liam should be more than happy with such generosity.

“The irony is not lost on me that you’re giving me the full moon off.”

“Fight the system, I say.”

Liam adjusts the cushion behind his head, with no indication that he plans to move. Louis crosses the loungeroom and stands right in front of the screen, cocking his hip and inspecting his nails.

“Are you serious?” He can see Liam gesticulating in his periphery.

“Hey, aren’t we heading out?” Niall appears in the doorway.

“Yes, Nialler!” Louis cheers, grabbing for Niall so he joins him in blocking Liam’s view.

“Not you too,” Liam groans.

“Come on, it’s been good fun getting out there every night,” Niall grins, unknowingly playing into Louis’ cause. Louis slings an arm over his shoulders. Niall absently lets a hand rest against his back in habit.

“I just want one night off,” Liam says, palms raised, beseeching.

“Tomorrow you can watch as many Jason Statham movies as you want, but tonight we’re going out.”

Liam drops his head back, eyes to the ceiling, and Louis knows he’s won. But before he can make another move Harry enters from the hall, shirtless and unbuckling his belt.

“You lot waiting for something?” he asks.

Louis grabs Niall’s sleeve and pulls him along, the lot of them filing out with Liam begrudgingly bringing up the rear.

Their clothes lie scattered across the deck as they start off towards the tree, the earth now familiar beneath Louis’ feet even as a human. He picks up a jog, Niall speeding up next to him, and together they break out into a run.

Harry is ahead and Liam is somewhere behind but Louis just focuses on himself, on willing his shape to change, on wanting to let another part of himself out. He bends forward as he runs, feels the ripple through his spine, and in a single, arcing bound, shifts almost completely before he hits the ground.

He stumbles a bit on the landing, the transformation still rolling through him. But he gets to his feet eagerly, paws spread wide and tail whipping from side to side.

Niall trots up to him, bumping their noses hard enough he made them both sneeze. He drops his chin to the ground, eyes on Louis and tail wagging. Louis backs up, barking, before he pounces forward and swipes gently at Niall’s ear. Niall bares his teeth in retaliation, jumping back.

Louis is about to follow when he’s knocked heavily onto his side. Looking up, he sees Liam huffing, standing tall over him. Louis twists to his feet, barking and nipping at Liam’s heels.

Liam growls, letting Louis lead him in a loop, chasing him until Liam knocks him down again—clearly his punishment for tonight.

Louis concedes, lying on his back and batting at Liam’s face. He seems to accept it, stepping back so Louis can get up.

He sees Niall occupied with Harry, who Louis has learnt is the gentlest when it comes to play. Sometimes if someone else tries to instigate anything he instantly drops onto his side to try and entice them into a nap. Louis has given into it more than once.

Liam runs past them, barking, and Niall instantly stops going for Harry’s tail. The lot of them follow after their alpha instead.

He directs them back to the woods, where they’ve spent so many nights. Even after a couple of months, Louis hasn’t covered all the ground there is.

Niall drops back to Louis’ side, licking at his ears as they trot towards the trees.

Louis barks happily. Niall’s tongue lolls out and Harry answers him up ahead.

Liam disappears beyond the tree line, releasing the first howl of the night. The rest of them answer, hurrying in after him.

Even when they separate, make it a game of who can find who, Louis always feels them there. Can always find Niall first, if not at his side, then through his heartbeat.

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [tumblr](http://dearmrsawyer.tumblr.com) and the post for this fic is [here](http://dearmrsawyer.tumblr.com/post/164478303228) :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [forever is in your eyes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16113650) by [nightwideopen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightwideopen/pseuds/nightwideopen)




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